I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love........So love everybody you can see and who you cannot see even........MK

If you Google the term 'Zerg Rush' you will be in for a big surprise.

As soon as you do, the coloured letters 'O' turn into aliens that devour the page - and you can click on the little 'aliens' to kill them.

Even by Google's standards, though, this joke is particularly geeky.

The 'Zerg' are one of the races in a strategy game, Starcraft - and experienced players often rely on the 'Zerg rush' to win games. 

The verb 'to Zerg' is now often used in other online games, meaning to overwhelm an enemy through sheer force of numbers. 

The game Starcraft was released in 1998, but is still played today. 

Maker Blizzard entertainment says, 'In the distant future, the newly formed Terran Dominion faces the arrival of two hostile alien races: the savage Zerg and the enigmatic Protoss. Gather resources and expand your forces to lead them to victory. The only allies are enemies. The only choice is war.'

You have to search from the Google home page to make the 'trick' work, and it may not work in mobile browsers or some desktop browsers. 

Once the game is over, the letters form the message 'GG' - meaning 'Good Game', a sign-off often used by players of Starcraft and other online games

In many ways, he is the most accomplished business leader in the last century, having almost singlehandedly invented the PC industry and revolutionized 5 other industries:  cell phones, consumer electronics, film, music, and retail, while influencing virtually every other industry.  His roles at Apple: co-founder, marketer, entrepreneur, inventor, CEO, creative genius, designer, architect, etc.

The most important role Steve plays, however, is also the least discussed, and that is his role as Apple’s Customer Experience Obsessor, a different kind of “CEO.”  (OK, I know that the word “obsessor” does not exist according to Merriam-Webster, but you know what I mean!)   Steve’s obsessive focus on customer experience is the prime reason for Apple’s immense success.

Here are 6 Customer Experience Obsessions that are core to Apple .

1.  Customers must fall in love at first sight – For Steve, the customer experience begins with the physical beauty and elegance of Apple’s products. Striking, amazing, revolutionary, simple, and most importantly, COOL!  Apple stuff looks great, they sound great, and they FEEL great.  They touch all the senses, and this is how customers get hooked on them.

2.  A child must be able to use it! – With Apple products, more than any other, product and user become one.  User interfaces, when introduced, have all been VASTLY superior to the competition’s far clunkier interfaces. For example, the original Macintosh desktop computer was truly revolutionary.  It had a unique “windows” GUI interface, and users interacted with the computer via a brand new device called a “mouse.”  And how about the original iPod, with its click wheel, the iPhone with its dynamic touch screen, and the iPad – they were so easy that young children could use them.

3. NO user manuals –  Who doesn’t hate user manuals?  All Apple devices come out of the box ready to use and in working condition, with NO setup or configuration required. This has become a hallmark of the Apple brand.  Peripherals are all “plug and play.” There is no need for user manuals because Steve knows that customers don’t want to deal with complexity.  They want their new toys to work right away with no brain damage, so he made sure his industrial designers delivered on this brand promise.

4. Make the buying experience easy, and customers will buy more –  Whether it’s downloading videos and music from iTunes, or buying a laptop from an Apple Store, the experience is easy, friendly, and even fun!  We all know how super easy it is to preview and buy media on iTunes.  And what happens when you go to an Apple store?  They are clean, well organized, and have lots of demos you can try.  Their salespeople are friendly, incredibly knowledgeable, and PASSIONATE.  And when you’re ready to buy, you don’t go to a counter.  Your salesperson uses an iPod touch POS device with credit card scanner, and the process is about the easiest retail experience you’ll ever have.

5. The products MUST BE RELIABLE – People often criticize Apple for having closed or proprietary technologies, and for overly controlling application development partners (iPhone and iPad apps).  While Apple surely makes more money and keeps competitors at bay this way, Steve’s real reason for this is QUALITY CONTROL.  Apple products work BETTER and are less buggy and less susceptible to viruses because of the seamless integration of hardware and software, their tight control over partnerships, and their use of higher quality components and awesome design.  And with reliable products come customer satisfaction and evangelism, which brings us to Steve’s 6th customer experience concept:

6. The Best Customer Service is NO Customer Service – Steve clearly understands this customer service adage.  The theory is that if you do a great job acquiring and delivering for your customer, you won’t have the need for customer service.  Of course, every company has customer service issues, but those that have the fewest issues are the companies who do a great job making their customers happy, and therefore have thehighest customer satisfaction.  And Apple’s customer service is very good, especially for a consumer products company.

At the end of the day, satisfied customers are repeat customers, and they evangelize on Apple’s behalf.  Steve knows this and that’s why he focused on the entire customer experience:  the fun and low-friction buying experience, each product’s “WOW” factor, the user interface, product reliability, and good customer service.

WASHINGTON: Search giant Google's new consumer service that allows users to store photos, videos, and other digital files in the Internet 'cloud', could allow third party agencies to access your data, without your knowledge and without the need for a warrant, an expert has claimed 

David Asprey, the inventor of one of the first cloud computing services TrendMicro cloud evangelist, said that the terms of use of Google Drive "destroys any expectation of privacy because you license your data to a third party". 

You give Google full right to do whatever they want to do with your data.

"By signing up to Google Drive, users give the tech giant a global license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify or create derivative works and to publish, publicly perform and distribute that content," he added. 

Meanwhile, Google said they comply with US laws and legal processes 'just like any law-abiding company'. 

"We have a track record of advocating on behalf of user privacy " Google said in a statement. 

"We look at each request to be sure they adhere to both the letter and the spirit of the law before complying. We do our best to notify the subject named in any such requests in order to give them the opportunity to object," it added.

This is the social networking app you've been looking for... 

Download the Kinect Star Wars mobile app and view your Facebook and Twitter feeds in the style of the iconic Star Wars opening title sequence!

Microsoft has launched the Kinect Star Wars app for smartphones. The app is a social networking app with a difference, it lets you view your Facebook and Twitter feeds in the famous style of the ‘opening Crawl’ at the start of Star Wars movies. The Kinect Star Wars apps will let you sync with your Facebook and Twitter accounts to allow you to view both inside one app, even in one stream if you wish. Your Facebook stream, Twitter stream, mentions and even direct messages are viewable within the app.

The app is great for people who love Star Wars and also like to catch up with friends on social networking websites, and to be honest, how can anyone not love Star Wars?

“We are literally putting the Force directly into people’s phones to help launch Kinect Star Wars” says Stephen McGill, Microsoft UK director of Xbox and entertainment.

The app is available right now and is free on iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

 

The app is to celebrate the launch of the game for Xbox 360, which is by LucasArts and Terminal Reality and published by Microsoft Studios. The game uses the Kinect motion peripheral so users can use the force; wield a lightsabre and control podracers and starfighters. You can even use your voice to make various commands. The game takes place during the prequel trilogy, which starts just after Episode 1 and concludes during the events of Episode 3.

You can find more information over on Facebook. Please let us know what you think of the app and game in the comments

There is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood by those who hear it.

To launch the high quality TV channel TNT in Belgium we placed a big red push button on an average Flemish square of an average Flemish town. A sign with the text "Push to add drama" invited people to use the button. And then we waited... Discover here what happened